About this Research Topic
Groundwater is a fundamental resource for humans under threat from overexploitation, pollution and climate change. Groundwater also nurtures fragile environments and aquatic ecosystems at the interface with surface waters. Managing groundwater resources such as to satisfy human needs while preserving their integrity and quality takes advantage of groundwater models. The recent impressive advances in computer power and the wide availability of codes made groundwater modeling very accessible. However, the large variability across scales of hydraulic and geochemical properties as well as the endemic lack of reliable information on boundary conditions and withdrawals are sources of large uncertainty in model outputs, in which quantification and reduction are by far the most difficult task of the modeling process, particularly when modeling objectives scale up from the local to catchment and larger scales.
Due to the huge and largely unexplored heterogeneity of the subsurface environment and the limited information useful for its characterization, groundwater modeling is fraught with uncertainty. Dealing with this uncertainty requires the development of scale-dependent and goal-oriented models, since subsurface heterogeneity impacts differently hydrological fluxes, biogeochemical processes and transport of contaminants. Heterogeneity is intimately related to uncertainty since the former cannot be fully characterized and the resulting lack of knowledge ultimately leads to uncertain evaluations. Neglecting uncertainty may lead to vastly erroneous conclusions and management decision with dramatically adverse effects on aquifer’s conservation. Despite techniques developed to deal systematically with uncertainty, through stochastic simulations and Bayesian updating, their application is hampered by the lack of handy tools and the resistance by practitioners and managers to adopting these approaches. In addition, stochastic groundwater focused on local, or small-scale transport processes and limited studies addresses the combined effect of physical and bio-geochemical heterogeneities.
In this Research Topic, we invite contributions advancing current capability in the multifaceted aspects of groundwater modeling. Both process-based and data-driven modeling approaches are welcome dealing (though not exclusively) with:
• Model identification (selection) based on available information, scale and objective of the simulations
• Applications dealing with uncertainty in groundwater modeling at local and aquifer scales
• Applications dealing with future scenarios of groundwater resources under climate change and human pressures
• Institutional incentives and barriers on the way to implementing stochastic concepts in real-life situations
• Novel approaches and handy tools for dealing with uncertainty in groundwater and in risk assessment
• Use of remote sensing and geophysical investigation to inform groundwater modeling and reduce uncertainty
• Impact of physical and biogeochemical heterogeneity on transport of contaminants, including emerging ones, in the earth’s subsurface
Due to the huge and largely unexplored heterogeneity of the subsurface environment and the limited information useful for its characterization, groundwater modeling is fraught with uncertainty. Dealing with this uncertainty requires the development of scale-dependent and goal-oriented models, since subsurface heterogeneity impacts differently hydrological fluxes, biogeochemical processes and transport of contaminants. Heterogeneity is intimately related to uncertainty since the former cannot be fully characterized and the resulting lack of knowledge ultimately leads to uncertain evaluations. Neglecting uncertainty may lead to vastly erroneous conclusions and management decision with dramatically adverse effects on aquifer’s conservation. Despite techniques developed to deal systematically with uncertainty, through stochastic simulations and Bayesian updating, their application is hampered by the lack of handy tools and the resistance by practitioners and managers to adopting these approaches. In addition, stochastic groundwater focused on local, or small-scale transport processes and limited studies addresses the combined effect of physical and bio-geochemical heterogeneities.
In this Research Topic, we invite contributions advancing current capability in the multifaceted aspects of groundwater modeling. Both process-based and data-driven modeling approaches are welcome dealing (though not exclusively) with:
• Model identification (selection) based on available information, scale and objective of the simulations
• Applications dealing with uncertainty in groundwater modeling at local and aquifer scales
• Applications dealing with future scenarios of groundwater resources under climate change and human pressures
• Institutional incentives and barriers on the way to implementing stochastic concepts in real-life situations
• Novel approaches and handy tools for dealing with uncertainty in groundwater and in risk assessment
• Use of remote sensing and geophysical investigation to inform groundwater modeling and reduce uncertainty
• Impact of physical and biogeochemical heterogeneity on transport of contaminants, including emerging ones, in the earth’s subsurface
Keywords: groundwater, groundwater modeling, contaminants, transport processes, subsurface waters, surface water
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
